Percy Jackson: The Child of Artemis
by daetion
Summary: Nicole Summers is the definition of normal. That is, if you count out the fact shes the daughter of Artimes, and her fathers been kidnapped by a glass man,and her best friend had lied to her since they met five years ago. But still normal, right?
1. The Glass Man

**Hey guys, I know it's not my usual Harry Potter, but I've started to get anxious. I'm going to start to try to write a new chapter for both each week, so please keep reading! I'm sorry if you're not a Percy Jackson fan and only like Harry Potter, but seriously! Try it! And I'm sorry if you guys get pissed at me. But remember- Harry Potter is still a go!**

**Sincerely, your loving and sorry 3 Author 3**

I woke with a start, my breathing heavy. I sat up on my bead, my heart beating like a drum. I felt my forehead- I was sweating. I placed my head on top of my knees, wondering what had just happened.

Usually, I'm not the dreamer type. Even if I do get dreams I can never remember half the details, which most of the times results in me getting really mad. And trust me- you do _not _want to get me mad. It never ends well. But right now there was nothing else I wanted in the world than to forget what I just dreamed- or forget what I just _saw._

My dream started normally, for a dream I guess. I was standing in an old destroyed building, most of the walls and the celling parts were surrounded by my feet. The place looked like no one had lived there in years, but it smelled of roses, like it had been freshly Ferbrezed. Maybe it was the creepy feeling the place gave me, or the way the left over celling looked like it was about to crash on top of me, but I left the little building quickly.

The sky opened above me as I walked into a meadow and I breathed in fresh air, which, in Manhattan, was not something you breathe regularly. I found myself getting drifting farther and farther away from the building -which I realized, was actually a little house- wanting to explore. But every time I took a step I felt like I was doing something wrong, like I shouldn't leave. But I was just so… enchanted.

When I couldn't see the house anymore I knew something was wrong. The wind stopped. The flowers drooped. Clouds cover the sun now, blocking the light from shining. I immediately started to feel uneasy, like something was wrong.

"Nicole Summers," a clear voice came from behind me. I turned around sharply, but no one was there.

"Nicole Summers, do not be afraid, I mean you no harm."

Ya, easy for the voice to say, it was invisible. It was more like he was saying, '_You can't hurt me but I can hurt you so stop moving.' _

"Where are you?" I shouted half-heartedly, hoping I was aiming at the right place. That was when I saw it.

It was a glass stature of a man, that I was sure of. I hadn't noticed it because half of his body was covered by bushes. The man was so well crafted that I could have sworn it was breathing. I took a step closer, examining the stature more closely. There was something inside the stature… shapes? No, lungs. Bones. _Intestines_. The freaken statue was alive.

Gross.

"I guess now you see me… clearly, I suppose," he said, laughing at his own joke. I didn't move.

"Ah," he said, letting out a sigh, "Not in the mood for jokes, Nicole?"

"What do you want?" I asked, taking a step away from him, "How do you know my name?"

The glass man didn't move, which I was thankful for. I didn't want to know what else was see through on his bottom half. But just to be sure he wouldn't move, I didn't take another step back.

"I only want what is rightfully mine," he said, his voice soft and sugar coated. I knew something wasn't right about this guy, but I immediately felt calmer when he spoke to me. He maybe me feel like I was just having a normal conversation with someone, and not talking to some creepy glass man who was not wearing any cloths.

"I don't have anything of yours, and even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you," I said, trying to act more confident than I felt. Unfortunately, it worked, and the glass man's expression hardened.

"Give me the gift, child," he said, his soft voice abandoned, "And I will return your father."

That got my attention. I suddenly felt frozen to the spot as my heart beat began to quicken. I could have sworn he almost smiled at my discomfort. I was about to confront him and tell him he was lying, but before I could the man waved his hand, like he was saying hi to a long-time friend, and standing before me was a sandy haired green eyes man looking dazed and confused.. I stared at him, my tough act abandoned. I swear I should have blubbered like a baby if I wasn't so sure this was a dream.

I ran to him, my arms open, wanting to engulf him into a huge hug, but the glass man waved his hand again and he was gone. He came and gone just as quickly as he was taken. I seemed to have been running too fast because before I could stop I tripped over a tree root, landing loudly on the hard ground. I felt my body turn numb as despair flooded around my body. _He was in this spot… I was so close…_

I slammed the ground in frustration, "_What have you don't to him?" _I screamed, angry tears streaming down my face. I tried to wipe them away before I faced him, but it was no use. They kept falling.

"He can be returned to you as easily as a wave of my hand," the glass man said, mocking her, "If you give me the gift."

I turned to him, my sadness changing to anger. "_I have no gift!_ You've come to the wrong girl! Don't you realize how stupid your being?"

Insulting the glass man was not one of my smartest ideas. His face turned bright pink- yes, pink- and he stared at me like I was a parasite.

"Foolish girl- give me what I want or your father shall parish. Be well, daughter of the moon. For now."

Then my dreamed changed. I was in a large grey room that looked almost like a library. Blue prints were spread out on the floor. I could tell this was from a while ago because there was a calendar telling me this was two months ago. A girl with blond hair and stormy grey eyes was looking at them a worried look on her face. She seemed to be in deep thought but she was interrupted by an erupt banging on the door. The girl flinched and yelled for the person to come in.

A very, _very_ good looking boy had come in, nervously running his hand through his black hair. He was tall, about three inches taller than me, which was saying something. His green eyes were the colour of seaweed. The girl who was looking at the blue prints lit up when she saw him.

"Percy?" she said, "What's wrong?"

"Annabeth, I had a dream last night. It was about a girl-"

"You were dreaming about a girl? That's a good thing to tell your girlfriend."

"Annabeth, listen-"

The girl named Annabeth rolled her eyes. I couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed at the fact that he had a girlfriend, but it seemed neither of them could see me, so I took a step forward to hear better.

"-she's really important-"

"Yup, making me feel better."

"She's super strong-"

"I feel like one of a kind."

"Annabeth!" Percy said, embarrassed, but Annabeth just laughed. I had to admit it- she was pretty, and they did look good together.

"Oh, Percy, just tell me-" Annabeth started, but she stopped suddenly, as if just realizing something for the first time. Percy had seemed to notice this too. Suddenly, the two of them turned their heads right to where I was standing, almost as if they were sending darts at me with their eyes. I felt a shiver up my spine and then I woke up, and well, here I am.

I tried to make sense of my dream. Then again, it was just a dream. Or was it? It felt too real. I tried hard not to think of my father- scared, confused, and alone.

It happened almost two months ago, around the time the calendar in my dream said. My father was working outside our flower shop, watering the flowers. He had always watered the outside ones, because that's where he said he had met my mom. She had accidently bumped into him and he had given her a free flower saying he was sorry. He told me he hoped he would get lucky and maybe run into her again. He's been hoping for 15 years.

Well, like I was saying, my dad was watering plants one second and then the next he was gone. I had tried looking for him, but even back then I had known it was no use. He was missing. I filed a missing persons report, but the police just ignore me. Even my step mom wouldn't support me.

Ah, my lovely step mom, Laurie Johnston. Also known as my personal nightmare. My dad had married her almost a year after I was born for god knows what reasons, and now I was stuck living with a drunken show girl. Well, she looked like that, anyway. She would always wear this sparkly eye shadow on her eyes and cake makeup on like it was moisturizer, then she would put on one of her short dresses that my dad pays for and some six inch heels and _voila! _You had a sparkly blond bimbo.

"NICOLE!" My step mother called from down stairs, "GET DOWN HERE AND WATER THESE DAMN FLOWERS BEFORE I- Oh hello, how may I help you?" I could hear the customer's uncomfortable grumblings as I got out of bed and put on my glasses.

Compared to my step mother I was a complete opposite. Where as she lived to stand out, I lived to blend in. I would always wear a plane solid coloured-shirt with a pair of jeans and my convers, my long auburn hair tied back into a braid. It was my signature look, I could say.

Before I went down stairs I had a quick look in the mirror. I looked the same as always- my green eyes covered behind round glasses and my olive skin plane except for a splash of freckles on my nose. Now, I know what you think when you hear 'olive skin' and no, I am _not super _tanned. I guess you could say I have pale olive skin. Ya, that it.

And before you go jumping to conclusions again, I have perfect eye sight. The glasses were my dad's. When he first disappeared I had popped the lenses out and worn them everywhere- I don't know why, out of desperation I guess- and it just ended up becoming a habit.

I ran out my door with a dark green t-shirt on, expecting a normal day. I didn't know how wrong I was.


	2. My Best Friends a Tree

I ran down the first flight of stairs to the Drop-Out. The Drop-Out was something my dad had made for my seventh birthday. I had always said I hated to walk down the three flights of stairs, and so he had created this… invention, in a way. The Drop-Out basically looked like a big long rod that was attached to a rope that made it down to the end of the stairs. Did it look safe? No. Was it safe? Probably not. But it sure was fun.

I grabbed the rod and pulled down as hard as I could, and then I found myself being pulled up higher and higher until my feet couldn't tough the floor. I kicked off the back wall and started swinging down the stairs. It was like an improved version of a zip line, for your own house. Fortunately I've had tones of practice with the drop out so I've gotten pretty good, I can even do some acrobats if I wanted, but I hadn't done any since my dad had disappeared.

I finally reached the end of the Drop-Out and jumped off, continuing to run towards the shop. I quickly grabbed my yellow apron and ran into the store. It was a small shop right smack in the middle of Manhattan. My dad had named the shop 'Moon Drop' because of how much he's always loved the moon. There were thousands of different flowers everywhere and it was always crowded and super-hot, so my hair would always poof up twice its size after only an hour of working. I would always finish work sweaty and tired.

And I loved every minute of it.

It was really the only time I ever really felt happy any more, besides when I was with my best friend, Clora and Daniel. Clora is this really petit girl who is literally the sweetest person you will ever meet. The only thing I can say is bad about her is that she's kind of a cry baby. I've only known Clora for about a year.

Daniel, on the other hand, has been my friend since we were in kindergarten. Daniel was tall and lanky, with deep blue eyes and messy blond hair. I would call him handsome if he wasn't so annoying. It was like he lived to make fun of me. God knows what he would do if I told him he was _good-looking. _ I shivered at the thought.

"Nicole, sweetheart?" Laurie called from downstairs. The quiet voice made me assume that she was with a customer, "Could you come downstairs?"

"I'm already here," I said coming into the flower shop while tying up my apron. Sure enough, when I had caught sight of Laurie she was wearing a turquoise sequence dress that barely made it to her thighs, and her blond hair was so high at the back that if was flipping over into her eyes, talking to Mrs. Linton, a regular. I tried not to role my eyes as I started to tend to the flowers. I was watering some daffodils when _he_ came into the shop.

Geoffrey Bull. My step-moms 'Friend'. He was always huge, but today it looked like he was swelling. He barely even made it through the stores door anymore. Not that that would be a bad thing- I just wasn't sure if tomorrow he would try to get in and accidently destroy the whole shop. He had a huge tuff of hair on his head that was so long it reached down to his back, and he had a nose like a huge pig snout. I don't think I've ever heard him speak a really word, ether. All he does it grunt.

My step mother face lit up as she ran- well, more like slid, in those heals- to Geoffrey and gave him a hug.

"Oh, Geoff, your here!" Laurie exclaimed, being as dramatic as possible. Geoff grunted back.

I was about to slyly bring up my father in front of Geoff, which would probably resulted in me getting grounded until the day I die, _again, _ when the bell on the door sounded and Clora came through the door, a smile on her face. Her smile slowly faded as she saw my step mother with Geoff, and she scrunched up her nose like she smelled something bad. Well, who wouldn't, the guy stunk.

"Hey Clora," I said, moving to the flowers as far away from my 'mommy' as possible, "Is Danny with you?"

Clora shook her head, her short brown hair flying around her, "Sorry Nicole, he's back at camp."

I tried not to be disappointed, but I couldn't help it. It was summer time, so Daniel would go to this camp from July to September and wouldn't some back till school started. Sometimes he would come for the weekends, like he had this Friday, but he had to leave a day early. He wouldn't tell me why, which made me furious. I turned to water the flowers behind me so that Clora couldn't see my face. Unfortunately, that didn't work to well. Clora can always read my emotions like a book.

"You know, he said he might be back next weekend," Clora said, her voice chirping like the birds. That's the thing about Clora, she was always positive. To her, the glass was always half full, even if it was empty.

"Thanks, Clora," I said, trying to sound happy, but she knew it wasn't working. Daniel never came back two weekends in a row. I finally made my way outside from the shop, away from my step mom and Geoff. I didn't want to be in there when it started to get discussing.

"Hey, Nicole," Clora said, picking up a water can and starting to water the flowers with me, "It Geoff getting bigger or is that just me?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. You know, sometimes I don't even think the guys _human_. I mean, really, why would any human want my step mom?"

Clora started to laugh, but then she stopped, like she just remembered she had something important to do and she forgot. Clora turned to the store window to see that Geoff was staring at us, his beady eyes sending a chill down my back. _That_ was when Clora started to panic.

Now I know that panicking is bad, but when Clora dose it, it's crazy. She starts to hyperventilate and starts talking all this nonsense, like "No way. Not true. I'm not sure, I'm no satyr," and just keeps repeating crazy stuff like that, then she starts to drink water like a mad man. I could see she was eyeing the watering can, and before I could stop her she had dumped the whole can of water on her head. I stood there, gapping at her.

Clora let out a long sigh, as if from relief, and I watched in amazement as the water dripped around her, but the longer I watched the more I realized there was no water on her anymore. She was completely dry. I noticed the puddle in her feet was also dissolving around her, like it was going into a crack around her feet.

"Clora!" I said, staring at her now dry body, "Why did you so that?"

She stared at me, horrified at what she had just done, but then she put a calm face on and stared at me confused, like what she did was completely normal for a 15 year old girl.

"What are you talking about?" she said blankly as I stared at her.

"You- you just-"

"Oh look," she said, staring at the empty watering can, "I need more water."

Then she went into the flower shop and left me outside, confused and alone.

…

When Clora came out she didn't talk about what had happened with the watering can, she was so convincing I almost thought she was trying the truth, but I knew what I saw. I had come to the conclusion that Clora has a water problem and is trying to cover it up. But it's up to her to tell me about her water problems or not, and I'm not one to judge.

After I had finished up at the flower shop Clora had taken me to the park right outside our school. It was only a five minute walk, with was convenient, because ever since my dad disappeared I have no walk everywhere. My step mom would only drive me somewhere is I paid her, and since she took all my money, I'm kind of broke.

I noticed Clora's face as we came towards the park. She was calmer by the park, more at home. Come to think of it, I've never been to Clora's house. I always seemed to just drop her off at the park and walk away. I guess I've been a pretty lousy friend.

"Hey Nicole," Clora said her voice abnormally soft as we went to sit by our tree. It was new to the park, and bigger than most trees, so we always sat under it and hanged out. It was kind of our thing.

"Yeah?"

"I want you to have this," she said, pulling out a moon shaped hair clip. I had never been one for hail clips, I prefer hair over my face than pulled away, but I took it gratefully. I didn't need Clora

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked, admiring the clip. It was made of little opal gems, by favorite stone. I placed it gently into my hair and gave Clora a half hug with one arm. Clora has been the only person I can actually talk to about girly stuff. If I told Daniel anything, he would probably black-mail me. Clora, on the other hand, loved to listen to me. I would tell her about my issues with ADHD and dyslexia, my worries about my father and my hate for my step mom. I'm pretty sure she known everything about me, which I was happy about but at the same times scares me.

Which reminded me, I was supposed to tell Clora about my dream. Like I said, I told her everything. But for some reason I felt uncomfortable telling her about it. It was so… personal. But in the end I decided to tell her, which I realized was a _big _mistake.

She started to panic again, but even worse than she had before. I tried my best to calm her down while I was getting my water out of my back pack, but not before I heard some of her crazy talk again. But this time I understood it.

"Gaea, she's coming, must warn camp, Daniel-" I handed her my water and she drank it gratefully. I recognized Gaea from Greek mythology, I have always been obsessed with that stuff. I would go to the school's library take out as many books I could on Greek culture and even a few roman books.

"Clora," I said, ready to confront her, "What are you-?"

But I was cut off by a lions roar. Of at least that's what I thought it was, but why were there lions in Manhattan? I turned to Clora to see she had turned white.

"Oh no," she whispered. She grabbed me by my arm and pulled me to the parks playground. It was small and really old, but I still liked to hang around here and go down the old slide sometimes. I followed Clora, confused, but she didn't say anything. Instead she took out a cell phone. I looked at it longingly as Clora dialed a number. My dad said I could never have a cell phone.

"Hello? Annabeth?" Clora said, and I froze. Annabeth?

"We have a problem. I was right… yeah, _that_ half-blood… what do you mean you're about to leave to camp Jupiter? We need Daniel! Or Jason... Yes, I know you're about to find Percy… NO YOU LISTEN."

Clora pointed the phone towards the area of the first roar just as another roar had blown. She quickly placed the phone back to her ear.

"Now whatcha think…. Yeah, I thought so. I can't do much, though, my tree is in danger. Just… Get Daniel. I know he's been looking forward to seeing the other camp, but we can meet you there. Yes… yes… alright. Use Blackjack. He's been depressed since Percy's left. Yes, I understand. You go."

She closer her phone and gave me a frightened look. I could tell she was about to tell me something that was going to be _bad. _

"Look. I don't have much time, but were in danger. _You're_ in danger, Nicole, and until Daniel's here, I have to protect you."

I let those words set in and I stifled a laugh. Clora, protect _me?_

"Clora, what are you-"

"Just give me five minutes. You know Greek mythology? About the gods and the monsters that exist in those books? Well, there real. Boy are they real. You, Nicole, are a child of a one of those gods. Your mother, she didn't leave you like your father said. She's a goddess."

"Clora, you need to take it easy on the water."

"Listen to me! We're not human! You are special, Nicole, are we are not normal. You, you're a half-blood. A half mortal. Me, I'm a dryad."

"Wait- let me get this straight-you're a _tree?_"

Clora opened her mouth to object, but her voice was quieted by another roar. A _much_ louder roar. I looked to see that Clora's face was now pail white as she stared over my shoulder. Slowly I turned around.

It was Geoffrey Bull. But he wasn't a person anymore… he was an actual _bull._ I stared at his menacing teeth, his huge body, his eyes filled with pure hatred, but all I could think of was, _wow, you think he could come up with a better last name._

Which was a strange thing to think when I was staring straight at the Minotaur.


	3. I Get Rescued By My Jerk of a Friend

Come to think of it, what I did _was_ pretty stupid.

There I was, just being told I was some magical creature and I was in danger, when the Geoffrey the Minotaur came roaring at me. Now, I know I was supposed to be scared out of my mind, but my ADHD took over and I found myself staring at the Bull in awe. How many times do you get to see a Minotaur in your life time?

At this point I was all go for the Half-blood thing. I mean, it sounded pretty cool, besides the monsters are going to try and kill me. That was when I realized- the Minotaur was not just here for a play date. It wanted to kill me.

_That _got my attention.

I tried my best to stay as still as possible, because I remembered reading that it had terrible sight. But Clora had other ideas. As soon as she saw that the Minotaur wasn't planning to charge at the moment, she bolted to the tree that we were just under, almost as if she were guarding it. The more I looked at Clora the more I realized how stupid I've been to not notice she wasn't human. Even as it was getting close to dark, I could still see clearly that her skin was tinted green and her face somewhat looked elfish. But unfortunately, I had other problems than feeling lousy about not knowing my best friend was a tree.

The Minotaur had found Clora and looked like he was getting ready to charge. Clora was so scared she was frozen to the spot, holding on to the tree for dear life. I knew I had to do something, so I grabbed the nearest stick and chucked it at the Minotaur, hitting him right on the back. Luckily, he turned away from Clora. Unluckily, he turned to me, and he charged.

I didn't know what to do, I couldn't even think straight. Even if I somehow managed to live, I knew the Minotaur would eventually break me down. Frozen to the spot in fear, the beast started to get closer and closer. I could see his ugly features closely now, from his abnormally small arms to his huge face.

"Nicole!" Clora tried, bringing me out of my trance, "Run!"

I jumped out of the way just as the Minotaur was about to hit me, but not before its claw scratched my leg. I felt white hot pain shoot up my body. I was expecting it to turn and hit me again to finish me off, but the bull just kept going, and going, running into the forest. Seeing I had seconds to spare, I limped towards Clora. She was muddy and shaking with fear, but she was alive.

"Use the hair clip," Clora said, "It was a gift from the god Hephaestus."

"_The _Hephaestus?"

"Hurry!"

"Wait- How can you even be here? I thought that Dryads can't go too far from there tree."

"This is my tree!" She squealed, her face pained with worry. That was when it hit me. Clora wasn't holding onto her tree for comfort. She was holding on to her literal _life._ Now I knew I had to fight- for Clora.

I tried desperately to get the clip to work, but I didn't really have any idea what I was supposed to do. I tried to press it, pull it, separate it, but nothing happened. I didn't even know what to _expect _to happen, it just looked like a regular old clip.

I saw that the Minotaur was searching for us again, for our sent. I mumbled a curse as I tried desperately to get it to work, but before I could the Minotaur let out a Hugo huff, somewhat sounding like a laugh, and started to charge straight towards us. I heard Clora give a scared yelp and I knew I had to do something. So, I prayed to my mom. I had no idea who she was, but she had to do something. I was desperate. The Minotaur was thirty feet away… twenty feet… ten feet…

For a scary second, nothing happened. Then the clip started to glow, and floated into the air. It flipped around three times before growing into a silver archers bow. I felt a sudden weight on my shoulder and found that there was a barrel of matching silver arrows there. I didn't have time to think how. Before I could even gap at the stuff I took out an arrow and set it, prayed that I would come out of the alive, and shot.

The arrow flew to the Minotaur, looking like it was going to miss harmlessly over its shoulder, but half way the arrows exploded, leaving behind a white dust. I was about to burst into tears- and I was _not_ a crier- when I realized that the arrow hadn't blown up. It had blown up into seven tinier arrows, all aiming for the heart of the Monster. I stood there and I immediately knew it was going to die. Don't ask me why, I just… knew.

Sure to my thought, the seven arrows sprouted from the monsters chest, and it let out a roar of pain. There was a scary moment of silence, and then the monster exploded into dust.

Clora and I just stood there in silence, before Clora burst into tears. I grabbed her and pulled her into my shoulder, as I let her green (yes, green) tears stain my shirt. It didn't really mater anyway; my shirt was the same colour as her tears. I looked out to the horizon, as the sun was setting. I stood there, rocking Clora, until the sun finally dropped.

That was when I realized that the sky was still glowing. Now the whole sky, just a little bit at the bottom. I stared at it confused, but the closer the light got I realized that they were horses pulling something golden. I stared at it longer before I realized that the horses were _flying._ And they were pulling chariots.

Suddenly I felt extremely tired. I could hardy hold myself up, but I was also holding on the Clora. I tried to rest my shoulder on Clora's tree, but I started to get dizzy. I couldn't see straight. I remembered my leg, now dripping with blood. I didn't know how, but I knew the wound was poised. I also knew I only had hours to live.

"Nicole?" I heard Daniel call, and that was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

…

"So, this is her…" I heard a voice I found faintly familiar.

"Yeah, it's her. I'm sure," That voice was definitely Daniels.

"I'm not sure how I feel about this, Danny. I mean, we have to train and get ready for the biggest fight since the Titan War."

"Think about how she could help us!" Daniel spoke again, sounding stressed.

"Look, the only person who can tell if this is her is her mother and Percy. And Percy…" the girl sighed. "I'm not sure I'm ready to drop this burden on him. I just got him back, Danny."

"Fine, she can sleep in the Hermes Cabin with us and the Romans. But _your_ explaining this to her. I…" Daniel hesitated, as if scared I would hear, "I have a lot to do."

When I heard the door close I let my eyes flutter open. I sat up on my bed, looking around my surroundings. I was in a white comfy ben in a plain white room. It was about the size of a bed room, with wooden floors and grey walls. There was a pretty blond girl in front of my bed, scowling at the door that Daniel must have left through. Noticing that I had woken up she turned her face towards me, and I immediately knew who she was.

"Annabeth," I said, and she nodded. She didn't seem surprised that I knew her name.

"Nicole Summers."

"Where am I?" I asked.

"Camp Half-Blood, the camp your friend Daniel goes to," she said gently, and I that set in. If this was a camp for half-bloods, and this was the camp that Daniel went to all summer…

I blinked back tears, "Daniels a half-blood."

She nodded.

"And he was sent to look after me."

She nodded again. I couldn't believe this. Daniel had been my best friend since… well, he had been my only friend since we were five. How could he have kept this secret from me? Did he even want to be my friend? He didn't act like it.

I don't know how, but a tear fell down my cheek. If there's one thing I never did, it would cry. There were some moments, like when my father disappeared, but that was it. But here I was, crying, and for some reason I've never felt so week.

"Who's my mom?" I whispered, but Annabeth just shook her head. I wiped away my tears.

"I don't know, but she must be looking after you, though, to tell Hephaestus give you such a gift."

I instinctively reached up to my head, and sure enough, my clip was there. But something had changed. I wasn't wearing my usual outfit, I was hearing an orange t-shirt that had CAMP HALF-BLOOD printed on it and some jean shorts. My air was brushed and unbraided, which I thought was odd. I usually never have in unbraided, I went to bed with a braid and woke up with one.

I looked in the mirror placed on the left wall. I saw that the hair clip was letting a lot of my face show, but that wasn't all. My glasses were gone.

I started to panic. I turned to Annabeth, about to ask, but she seemed to read my mind.

"Your glasses were destroyed. You're lucky you didn't die, the Minotaur's claws were poisoned. If Danny hadn't come-"

"Don't talk to me about Danny," I said coldly, but I couldn't help him. I don't think I've ever been this mad at him in the ten years I've known him. Annabeth looked shocked at what I had just said, and I immediately wished I hadn't said it.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly, "But I've felt like I've been betrayed. I only had a few friends I can trust. I'm kind of an outcast."

I blushed on that last part, but Annabeth just nodded like she understood.

"I know that feeling. I only had two friends I could rely on for a long time as well, Nicole. In a way were a lot alike."

I bit my lip, hesitating. "Nic," I finally said, and Annabeth stared at me confused. I let out a sigh and stared down at my bed sheets, now wet from my crying.

"Nic," I said to her again, "It's what my friends call me."

Annabeth looked a bit shocked at first, but then she slowly started to smile. I could tell she smiled a lot, which I didn't mind, because I liked her smile a lot better than her scowl. I didn't know why, but I liked Annabeth. I felt like I could trust her- a feeling I didn't really feel often. I had trusted Daniel and Clora, and look where it gotten me?

I started to tell Annabeth about everything- about my life in Manhattan, about my Dad, and even about Daniel and Clora. I told her everything I could think of, and Annabeth didn't interrupt me, which I was grateful for. I was just talking about the one time Daniel had stolen my watch right off my wrist without me knowing when I suddenly thought of something.

"Wait- who were you two friends?" I asked, and suddenly Annabeth had stopped smiling. She looked like she couldn't decide to tell me something or not, but eventually she let out a long sigh.

"Luke and Thalia. I practically grew up with them. But… Luke died six months ago. Thalia died as well- but the she turned into a tree and came back to life- long story," she said, noticing my confused expression, "But then she ended up becoming a Hunter of Artemis. Right now she's off having amazing adventures alongside her immortal friends."

Annabeth tried to sound happy about it, but I could see her eyes water. Something told me that Annabeth's life had been tragedy after tragedy.

"I dreamed about you and your boyfriend," I blurted out, and Annabeth looked at me with curious eyes, "With Percy, I mean. You were lying on your bed, staring at a laptop, when Percy walked in, talking about some dream."

Annabeth smiled now, seeming to remember Percy. Her cheeks flushed red, and I could tell that she liked him a lot. I noticed her staring at the door again, and this time she looked with longing. I didn't know where this Percy kid had gone to- but she had definitely missed him.

"Go see Percy," I said, and Annabeth looked at me, about to protest, but I stopped her," He probably wants to see you as much as you want to see him."

She smiled at me as she ran out the door. I looked outside the window beside my bed, watching her run. Over the hill I could also see another shape- a boy, about my age. It didn't take me long before I realized it was Percy, probably coming this way to check up on Annabeth. Even from here I could hear Annabeth squeal as she jumped up onto him. Percy pulled her into a hug and spinned her around. I decided it was best to look away.

I sighed to myself. I wish I had known what I had just gotten myself into.


	4. The First Worst Day of my Life

There are bad days, and then there are _really_ bad days.

Well, in total it would almost be like a bad week, but the first two days at camp Half-Blood were probably the worst days of my life, and trust me, _that _was saying something.

First problem was when I got introduced to the Hermes cabin. Connor and Travis Stoll were both super nice and all, but they kept eyeing the backpack Annabeth gave me. Something told me they were deciding weather of not there was anything important that was in there to steal. There wasn't anything really special, just some bandages, ancient Greek books for me to read, a map of camp and a Ginger Ale. On second thought, that Ginger Ale is _definitely _worth stealing.

The rest of the Hermes clan was nice enough, which just made me even more suspicious. They kept asking what was in my bag and if they could take it from me for 'safe keeping. 'The crazy part was that nothing about them reminded me of Danny. As much as Danny was definitely a Hermes kid (he's stolen things from me more than once) he looked nothing like his siblings, besides his eyes. They all had the same eyes.

After meeting the _wonderful_ Hermes bunch, I got to meet the romans. Now, I know that living with a bunch of criminals was bad enough, but at least they had personalities. The romans, on the other hand, looked like prisoners of war. Or like those English guards, you know, the ones that wear those big puffy hats and never smile? Yeah, that would describe the romans.

They kept acting like they were on enemy territory, which I guess they were in a way. One of the less sketchy Hermes kid, Jake, had told me about Gaea and how the romans and the Greeks must join together in one epic battle to save the world.

Yeah right, like thousands of years of fighting can be resolved in one day. It takes me at least a week to forgive my dad when he takes the last glass of Sunny-D.

Well, after meeting my room-mates, I got to see my new living space, which is more like a living square. There were about fifteen Hermes kids to start with, but with about fifty romans added, the place was packed. Not all the romans were staying in the Hermes cabin, only the ones who are undetermined or don't have a Greek and Roman god as a parent.

I decided to take a walk. It was almost dark outside and I only had about thirty minutes before the harpies would come and eat me (which I think is _highly_ inappropriate way to punish campers), but at this point in time you couldn't blame me for wanting to get out for a while.

I didn't know the camp very well, so took the map with me just in case. Turns out the camp isn't very hard to figure out, just follow the path and don't get lost. Fortunately, I don't get lost very easily. I was walking around the volleyball court when I noticed that there was a beach. I'm not really an ocean type of girl myself. I'd told people that it was because I had once seen a shark in the water that had been eying me for a nice good lunch, but that was kind of an _exaggeration. _

Okay, so I saw a washed up jellyfish and freaked out. Seriously, who could blame me? They were creepy. Still, I loved to look at the ocean. It just naturally made me felt calmer. Sometimes it makes me mad that I can't fully enjoy it because of those stupid jellyfish.

I checked my watch and saw that my thirty minutes were almost up. I started to panic- would the harpies really eat me? Even if they wouldn't, I didn't want to take a chance. I ran across the beach, hoping I was going in the right direction, until I came across a cabin I hadn't notice before.

It was made of grey rock, like the Athena cabin but darker, and had sea shells cut throughout the whole building. In all it was simple, but something about it radiated power. I stopped for a minute too admire it more, but then I heard the harpies' cries.

"I smell I child out of bed! Fresh food!"

My first instinct was to run, but I still didn't know my way around the camp, and I wasn't sure how long my 'never getting lost' streak would hold out. It didn't help that I could hear the voices becoming louder and louder every second. That was when I noticed that the door to the sea shell house was open. Yes, I knew all about the gods and by stepping into one of the cabins would probably turn me into a ferret, or worse, a jellyfish, but if I didn't get cover fast, it would be snaky time for the harpies.

I quickly ran towards the Cabin. It was a good thing I was fast, too, because right as I climbed onto the cabins porch I caught sight of the harpies. They were strange vulture like creatures with the head of girls that would have been pretty- if their eyes weren't beady and pure black. I swiftly made my way in the grey cabin and closed the door in a huff behind me.

I listened closely for the screeching to pass. It only took a few moments for their voices to stop, and I let out a long sigh of relief and fell to the floor on my knees, leaning my head against the door.

"Stupid, stupid, _stupid,_" I mumbled to myself, thinking about how this could have changed if I had just stayed in my assigned square.

"Yes," a voice came from behind me, "It _was _stupid."

I cringed. I knew that voice.

"Hello Percy," I said, my face still to the door.

"So you seem to know my name," he said, "What's yours?"

This time I turned around to face him. He was even more handsome than from my dream, if that was even possible, or maybe it was the fact that he was shirtless that made him hotter. His black hair was wet and messed around all over his face, and his green eyes studied me with curiosity. He must have just came out of a shower

"Nicole Summers."

"I'm guessing you _not _Poseidon's kid," Percy said, a smile tugging on his lips. That was when it hit me- this was _the _Poseidon's cabin. Percy was a kid of _the _Poseidon, possibly my favorite god ever, and one of the most powerful. How could I be so stupid? There were _sea shells _on the cabin, and unless there a god of sea shells I highly doubt any other cabin would have these markings. I looked down to see if I was still in full shape- yup, everything was there. No ferret feet or jellyfish stingers.

Percy laughed, "Don't worry, Dad won't harm you. I asked him as a personal favor. He said he wasn't going to, anyway, since you like him so much. Although he did tell me to tell you that if you step in his cabin uninvited again he'll turn you into a jellyfish."

I let out a sigh and finally got up. He was a good head taller than me, but he couldn't have been any older than sixteen.

"You know, I was kind of angry at you being in here, but now I'm just curious," Percy said, taking a seat on one of the many beds, "Tell me why you're here."

"Where do I start?" I asked, and Percy smiled.

"From the very beginning."

So, I told him everything. Well, everything from the day I fought the Minotaur till today. I think I told him even more than I told Annabeth, which startled me. I mean, I didn't even know Percy at all, but here I was, telling him everything. Sometimes he would interrupt me:

"Wait- you faced the Minotaur?"

"That's what I said, didn't I?"

"Are you sure it wasn't some other half man half bull creature that just _looked_ like the Minotaur?"

"Percy."

"Fine, continue."

Or he would question my logic:

"So after finding out one of my best friends was a tree-"

"A dryad," he corrected.

"A dryad is a tree."

"No, the tree is there life source."

"That's like saying you can ditch your heart whenever you want to."

"Well, the tree is still a part of them-"

"So they're trees."

At this point Percy was learning how stubborn I could be and just shook his head and asked me to continue.

Eventually I finished, skillfully leaving out my father's disappearance and crying over Danny. I grabbed my locket around my neck and started to subconsciously play with it. Come to think of it, I never really gave the locket much thought. It was beautiful, in the shape of a silver heart, with a white deer on the front. It was hollow and you could open it. My dad said it was a present from my mom. It probably wasn't, though, my dad was probably just trying to give me false hope.

Percy seemed to notice my sadness, and asked me to sit on one of the bunk beds across from him. He said that I didn't have much of a choice but to sleep here for a night, which I didn't really mind. I didn't think I was ready yet to face Danny.

"You know, you and me are a lot alike," he said, and I smiled.

"Annabeth said that too," I whispered.

"My mom is the greatest person in the world, like your dad I guess. She never gets mad and always looks on the bright side of life. My first step-dad was horrible, like your step mom as well. He took all of my families' money and would sometimes… well, he would hit my mom. Right now he's not exactly _alive _anymore-"

"That doesn't bother me," I blurted out, and Percy smiled.

"Yeah, me neither."

We sat in awkward silence for a while as I played with my locket. I suddenly started to remember random memories with my dad- like how he would always kiss me goodnight, even when I started to say I was getting too old for that type of stuff, and how he would always stand up for me whenever Laurie would ever call me one of her many rude nicknames. And trust me, she had _a lot. _

"Percy," I said, breaking the silence, "I forgot to tell you something-"

"Your fathers missing," he blurted out, and I looked at him in shock

"I've… Well, I've been dreaming about you," I looked at him, well, a little creeped out. I know he said he was dreaming about me in _my_ dream, but it was just that- a dream! No way my dreams could be true… if they were my dad could be in a lot more trouble than I thought.

"Oh its natural," he said quickly, "for half-bloods. We have dreams about the past, present, and future. They're kind of like omens." I could help but laugh at his face. He looked like a frightened puppy.

"It's cool, Percy. I get it. How about we make a deal- you tell no one about my dad and I won't tell anybody about your frightened puppy look?"

He returned my smile, "Deal."

We sat in silence again- this time a little less awkward- until Percy said it was time for lights out and I fell asleep to the calming sound of the ocean.


	5. The Second Worst Day of my Life Part 1

That dream last night was one of my worst.

I was in a beautiful garden, surrounded by fruits and flowers. But these weren't any ordinary fruits, they practically glowed with perfection. All I could think of as I looked at them was how delicious they must be. I tried to move to eat one, but I couldn't move. I looked down to see that I was knee deep in soil. I tried to pull myself out, but I couldn't. I was trapped.

Suddenly the garden began to shake, like it was being hit by an earthquake. I tried my best to escape my prison of dirt, but every time I tried I sunk deeper and deeper. It was like my own personal patch of quicksand. Or quickdirt.

I was about to try one last time to free myself when I heard a voice, echoing throughout the garden:

"_This is where it will end, this is where you will make your choice, hero,_" The voice boomed, making the garden shake even harder. I was up to my shoulders in dirt now. I tried to call out, but my voice wouldn't work.

"_Can you make the right decision?_" The voice boomed again. The dirt was up to my neck now, slowly creeping up to my face.

"_Choose, hero."_

The last thing I heard before the earth swallowed me was the voice laughing.

Then my dream changed. I was back standing in the valley beside the old house, the glass man facing me. This time he was wearing Greek battle armor, like he was ready for a battle, and in my mind he couldn't have looked weirder. It was like a human skeleton dressed for a Halloween party.

"Pleasure to see you again, child," he said calmly, smiling at me. I couldn't believe he had the nerve to bring me back here. I wanted to punch him, but yet again, I couldn't move. That's what the guy needed- a good crack in the skull. Or the glass. I didn't really care, as long as it hurt.

"What do you want?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Why, I simply want the gift."

"_What gift?_" I asked, my anger rising with every second.

"Don't play stupid."

"I don't know anything!"

"IF you want your father alive, then you will give me the gift and-"

"_What gift!_"

"YOU KNOW WHAT GIFT!" He roared, causing me to flinch. The glass man looked shocked with himself, and tried to regain his cool, but the damage was done. He gave a menacing glare at me, like he was considering how to kill me.

"Think wisely, girl," he said, turning around, "Before your time is over."

And then the earth started to shake again. I heard my name being called over and over again, as if a voice was coming from the earth.

_Nicole… Nicole…_

The ground was absorbing me again.

_Nicole…_

My head was under, I couldn't breathe.

_Nicole…_

"Nicole!" Percy called, causing me to jump and fall out of bed. I rubbed my head, now throbbing, and turned to Percy in annoyance. He looked at me and grinned.

"What was that for?" I demanded, and he pointed to the door.

"Time to go?" He said, and I immediately blushed. He was just looking out for me. I quickly put my hair back in its usual braid, and took out my clip, letting my hair fall into my face, and shoved it in my pocket. Like I said, I wanted to blend in. Percy gave me a green hat to wear, since it was an especially hot today. I tried my best not to blush when I realized he was worried about me, but it was no luck. Percy had an effect on me. Not an 'oh-my-gods-he's-hot' type of effect anymore, more like an 'I- finally-have- that- big-brother- I've- always-wanted' type of feel. Suddenly I thought of something I haven't thought before.

"Won't it look weird?" I asked, and Percy turned to me in confusion, "I mean, coming out of the same cabin? Isn't that, like, against the rules?"

Percy seemed to have just realized this, and then scratched his head in confusion.

"Okay, how about you say you came in late to your cabin? Like, _really_ late, and left early this morning. You can leave through the back door again."

I let out a sigh of relief, and we said our goodbyes as we both went for breakfast. I sat with Jake at the Hermes cabin, so breakfast wasn't that bad. Jake told me about the magical cups so I was more than happy to get my morning Sunny-D. After breakfast was almost over, two men stood up. One was really tall and was shirtless and was wearing white pants, and the other was round and pudgy with a large red noise that looked almost comical, and he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. The one with the Hawaiian shirt stood up first.

"Good morning, or average morning, in my case. I never have good mornings," I was going to laugh, thinking it was a joke, but no one else was smiling, "I would like to introduce a new camper, someone names Noelle Autumn-"

"Nicole Summers," Percy called out from his table, and I blushed as the Hawaiian guy waved his had in dismissal. He seemed like he really didn't care about me at all. Something about that made me mad- he reminded me of Laurie _way_ too much.

"Well, whatever," he said, and turned back to the crowd, "Well, Noelle, welcome to Camp, we hope you will have a miserable time, blah blah blah… Please meet Chiron at the big house. That is all. Oh, I forgot, also remember that it is _not _nice to climb the Dryads tree. I wouldn't recommend it unless you want extreme bruises, cuts, and/or death. And today we are having Capture the flag, so be ready at exactly five o'clock."

Then he waved his hands and the camp was dismissed. After the announcement about Capture the flag was announced, the camp seemed to lighten up. Everyone got excited and some bid kids who looked like they could be pro wrestlers were high-fiving each other. I quickly found Percy in the crowd, talking to Annabeth. I was about to turn around and leave them to have some girlfriend- boyfriend bonding time, but then Percy caught sight of me and waved me over.

"Her Nicky," Percy said, making up a nickname for me. It sounded a whole lot better than _Nic. _

"Her Percy, hey Annabeth," I said, and Annabeth smiled at me.

"Hey Nicole. I can call you Nicole, right? It's pretty."

"'Corse, I don't mind," I said, and she grinned at me. It really didn't bother me, a lot of people rather they called me Nicole- Clora, Danny, my dad- and not Annabeth. Then Annabeth's face changed like she just remembered something, and then she turned to Percy.

"Wait- how do you two know each other?"

"Long, _long _story. I'll tell you tonight. Oh, guess you'll be on our team for capture the flag Nicky, since were siding with the Hermes cabin."

"Really? Cool, um, I don't understand what capture the flag is though. Well, I'm assuming it's more complicated that the moral version."

Percy grinned at me, but said nothing. That wasn't a good sign. Annabeth, seeing that Percy was making me nervous, punched him playfully on the shoulder. The punch looked like it could have seriously hurt someone, but Percy just kept smiling.

"Oh, Nicole," Annabeth said, "Want me to take you to the big house?"

"Actually, I should come to. I have to confirm something with Chiron."

The three of us walked towards the big house, which I was expecting to be some magnificent mansion with seven floors and a huge garden, like something out of those real estate magazines, but it was just a cozy country house. Sitting on the porch were two guys playing cards, one was the guy with the white pants, now with his shirt on and was sitting in a wheel chair. The other was the Hawaii guy.

"Nicole," Percy said, pointing to the two guys, "Meet Chiron and Dionysus."

It wasn't hard to tell which one was witch, Dionysus looked like an over-grown baby with a drinking problem, but I couldn't believe who I was standing in front of. I was in the presence of an actual _god. _And the person who trained Achilles, one of the greatest hero's ever. Dionysus smiled at me.

"Ah, I like this one. She knows the _proper_ way to treat a god," he said, giving Percy a rotten look. Something told me the two of them didn't exactly have a "perfect" relationship.

"Oh, Mr. D, you are too dramatic. You know you like Percy now," Chiron said, and Dionysus let out a dignified huff and went back to his cards.

"So Nicole," Chiron said, and I blushed.

"Yes sir?" That made him smile.

"So need for the 'sir' dear, although it is quite nice. I see why Dionysus likes you. It's been a while since I've met someone with so much respect for their… elders."

"Speak for yourself, I'm a young god."

"_Anyhow,_" Chiron said, ignoring Dionysus, "Annabeth has told me all about you. She and I both think that you might be more important to our situation than you realize."

"Important?" I said, shaking my head, "I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong person."

"That is quite possible," Chiron admitted, "it would be the logical way to look at things. However, Percy, Clora, and Danny disagree. Well, you will be claimed before the dance, hopefully."

"Dance?" I asked, "Claimed?"

"We're having a dance to celebrate the romans," she said, not sounding too enthusiastic, "After capture the flag. We haven't had a dance here in over 100 years. Being claimed just means for your godly parent to send us a sign on who she or he is. Last week we got a new Athena kid, a really sweet guy named Keith. He came to camp confused and a little afraid, but when he got claimed by Athena he was showered in light and was answering every question asked. He was telling people about his theories of the universe for days."

"Wow, thank…"

"Amazing?" Percy offered.

"Intimidating."

"Ah, it gets old after a while. When Thalia was claimed you couldn't touch her without getting electrocuted. It was so cool."

I didn't exactly agree with Annabeth's idea of "cool" but I was looking forward to being claimed. I thought that maybe Athena would be my mother, since I'm so much like Annabeth, but I was never wise like she was. I made pretty stupid choices these last few days, and in my mind, Athena was shaking her head at me.

And Aphrodite? Please, I wasn't even pretty, let alone like being seen. And Hera and Artemis couldn't have kids so they couldn't be my moms.

Then I thought of Demeter. I was always good with plants, since I worked in a flower shop, but I never really could make them literally _grow _at my command. Still, Demeter seemed like the right choice. Out of all the Goddesses, I was like her the most, however little that might be. The thought scared me- what if I couldn't do anything? What if I was a dud child? It could happen- one of the god's children with no powers. What if that was me?

The room suddenly got a lot colder.


	6. The Second Worst Day of my Life Part 2

"Welcome, heroes," Chiron announced, "to capture the flag!"

The camp went wild at these words. I, on the other hand, was trying my best to slowly sink into the back ground like always. Annabeth had tried to explain to me what the game was all about- how we have to actually fight to get the flag- and that I shouldn't be worried about getting hurt because no one had been killed in years.

Yeah, that reassured me.

I was all dressed up in Greek armor at _least_ two sizes too big for me, and I had a sword by my side. Annabeth and this really pretty girl named Piper helped me pick out my weapon. Piper was really sweet, and being an Aphrodite's kid she didn't really seem to be all that concerned about her looks, which I liked. Annabeth and Piper kept on telling me about the different weapons that could be used in battle, but to be honest I just chose a random sword to get them to stop talking. Actually, I preferred my hair clip. Who knew a deadly weapon could be in the form of a hair accessory?

"Today we shall be joined by the Romans! They, along with the Ares cabin-"

The huge sumo-wrestler like campers cheered wildly, whereas the romans looked like they were ready to puke.

"- are on the one team, and the rest are on the other team! This shall be the largest capture the flag game at camp in history!

"Before we start, a few rules. No intentional maiming or killing. Whoever does this will be expelled from camp. And no, Romans, killing my campers will not get you out of camp half-blood. Take your positions!"

The camp cheered as we got to our positions. Personally, I had no idea where I was going, I just followed Percy and Annabeth. It was a good thing I was fast, too, because I almost lost them several times. Those two can _run. _Finally we made our way to a small creek in the center of the forest. I didn't know how I knew where I was, but somehow I did. I guess it was a factor of being Demeter's kid. Possibly.

"Okay team, the Hermes cabin will defend. Demeter, Aphrodite, and Apollo, Hephaestus, I want you to go around the sides along with all the minor gods. The bigger the group the better. Then Athena and Poseidon go head on. Everybody got that?" Annabeth said.

Some of the kids of the 'minor gods' looked a bit tense, but no one disagreed with Annabeth. Something told me she wasn't someone you want on you bad side.

Annabeth quickly took Percy's hand and led him towards the front with her, getting ready for the game to start. I couldn't help but smile at how cute they were. I didn't know much about how Annabeth and Percy's relationship, but I couldn't help but feel that they must have gone through a lot together.

Suddenly a horn sounded, and then everyone broke apart from our group, running in all directions. It wasn't very long until I was all alone by the stream, practically falling over with my armor, an old sword by my side, looking like a scared little kitten. Oh yeah, it would be hard to get around me.

I reached up to adjust my glasses, but then I realized they weren't there. They were probably trampled into the ground back in Manhattan. I don't know why, but remembering this made me extremely sad. I guess because it was the only think I had left of my dad, beside my necklace. Now losing them made me feel like I've lost him all over again.

I felt the tears weld up into my eyes. _Oh no, _I told myself, _you are not going to cry again. Your better than that._

It's not like he was really gone, anyway. If my dreams were real, like Percy told me, then he's alive. And I'm going to find him, weather it takes me my whole life, I _will _find him. I just have to figure out when is my best time to leave. After I find out whom my mom is, of course, and maybe after I get some more training...

"Nicole?" A voice came from behind me, and I turned around to see Keith, the new Athena kids that Annabeth was talking about. He looked a lot like Annabeth, with his blond hair and grey eyes, but Keith was tanned and his hair was a darker blond. We had met just before the games began.

"Oh, hey Keith," I said, grateful that my eyes were dry now.

"Are you patrolling with someone?" Keith asked, his eyes shining. Something told me he was scared to be alone. Or since he was an Athena's kid he knew being with a group was safer that being alone. Either way, I needed company.

"Nope, want to group with me?" I asked, and he nodded his head, smiling.

We walked in silence for a while, which I didn't really mind. The silence wasn't awkward, like it was with Percy. It was more like refreshing, walking through the forest. I had always loved being in nature. When I was younger, my dad and I would go to the forest by the school park and just play there for hours. Usually Danny would join us and we would play a huge game of tag. If there was one thing I always loved about my dad, it would be the fact that he was still a kid at heart.

"So," Keith said, breaking the silence, "You're a sword person?"

I looked down at my sword at let out a laugh, "Hardly. Honestly, I like a bow and arrow."

"Do you have one on you?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then ditch the sword."

I looked at him a bit surprised. The thought had never really occurred to me, but it _did_ seem logical. I would lose tones of weight, making it a lot easier for me to move. It must be nice to be Athena's kid, always knowing what the right thing to do is. I quickly ditched the sword in a bush, wondering how I was going to remember where this place was. Thinking on my feet, I took out my pony tail, ditching my braid. It immediately fell down to my back. Naturally, my hair was straight for the most part, but at the end my hair fell into small ringlets. My dad used to tease me and say I looked like a hair model.

I quickly tied the hair elastic onto the tree, grateful I had chosen a yellow one. It stood out perfectly against the natural setting.

"There," I said, "all set."

"Why do you always put your hair in a braid?" Keith blurted out, and then immediately blushed, "I-I mean, you look so much better without it."

Now it was my turn to blush, and knowing that I was blushing just made me blush harder. I hated when I blushed. It wasn't only my cheeks that turned red, my nose did too. Danny would always say I look like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.

"I don't know," I said, staring at the floor. He was staring at me intensely.

"You l-look cute when you blush," he said, and in spite of myself I felt myself smile. No one had ever told me that before.

However, before I could even answer, three kids from the Ares cabin jumped out from behind the curtain, all wearing camouflage, led by this huge girl with stringy brown hair. They had tried to blend themselves with the trees, so they had branched coming out of their helmets. Basically they all looked like they had gotten beaten up by a wood nymph.

I quickly reached for my hair clip, but all I got to do was loosen it before I found myself talked to the ground, Keith falling down right beside me. I got lucky and landed in the grass, but Keith got pushed head first into the mud. Two of the three people tied up me and Keith, leaving us unable to move.

There goes the only romantic moment I've ever had in my entire life.

"Ah, good job Clarisse!" One of the boys said, patting the only girl on the back.

"It was easy," the girl called Clarisse said, but she was swelling with pride.

"Knock them out, quickly, before they call for reinforcements," the other boy said, grinning stupidly at Clarisse. With one finally hit with the hilt of her spear, she hit Keith right on the head, and he fell to the ground, motionless. I called out to him, but he was out. I turned around, getting back on my front, hoping I could maybe kick the spear away, but I knew it was no use.

I looked up to see Clarisse staring at me, a victorious smirk on her face, ready to strike. I closed my eyes, ready for the blow… but nothing happened. Was she just teasing me? Did she want to think that I wasn't going to get hit?

"Clarisse, do it!" One of the boys snarled, and then I opened my eyes.

I was staring at the same girl I was seconds ago, but somehow she seemed like a different person. Her posture sagged. Her eyes were foggy, like she was remembering something painful. Her confidence died. She didn't look like a scary tough kid anymore- she looked like a normal teenage girl.

"S-Selena…?" She said, and I stared at her confused.

"Clarisse!" The boys called again, and she broke out of her trance. She looked shocked at what she had just done, and just as fast as the teenage girl came she had gone.

"Leave her," she said suddenly, "she's not worth it."

The boys looked like they were going to protest, but with one death glare from Clarisse the two of them follows her quietly. I don't know why, but I got really mad. She didn't think I was worth it? That I wasn't even worth the trouble of knocking out? I felt my face go red with rage.

I tried to move my hands, but the ties were tight. I could hardly wiggle. After about five minutes of wiggling, I was ready to give up. Then I remembered Clarisse's smirk. How she just tossed me to the ground like I was garbage. How she had ruined the possibly only romantic moment I have in my entire life.

I sat up, and tried one last time to break my bonds. I pulled as far as I could, so far that I felt the rope burn into my skin. I let out a grunt of pain, but I kept going. I could feel blood coming out of my wrists.

Then finally- _finally-_ the rope broke. I rubbed my bloody wrists, examining the cut. Again, I didn't know how, but _somehow _I know that this was nothing major. I could survive. I started untying my feet, grateful I didn't have to do the same thing with my feet as I did with my hands, and once I was done I turned to Keith.

Half of his body was drenched with mud, while the other half had attained several bruises. To be honest, I'm being nice describing him here. He basically looked like the hunchback of Notre dame went mountain biking. I examined his head to see that there was no blood, thankfully. I let out a sigh of relief as I quickly untied his bonds. I took off my sweater that I was wearing under my armor and made a pillow for his head. Again, I didn't know how, but I knew Keith wouldn't wake up for at _least_ another hour, and I didn't have that much time. I had to have a little heart to heart with Clarisse.

I took out my clip and flipped it for the second time ever. I wasn't very good at flipping it, though, and it took me several times before the thing finally transformed into a bow. I hear that accessories could be difficult- but this was a whole new level.

With one last look at Keith, I took off towards the flag. Again, I have no idea how I knew where the flag was, but I just _knew. _It's like I could see it even thought it was still a while away. I also knew that Clarisse and those boys were closing in on the flag. They were close, but they weren't very fast. That was my advantage.

I sprinted to the flag, only getting there moments before Clarisse would. I took a good position behind some bushes in good reach of the flag, and I waited. I don't know what had come over me. Sure, I had gotten in a fist fight or two, but I was never strong or smart when it came to having an actual battle. I usually tried my best to hide my anger, but it never really_… worked out_ for me. Okay, so I totally try destroy anyone in my way. But I'm trying.

After five seconds of waiting the Ares kids finally broke through the woods. Where was everybody? Shouldn't someone be grading the flag?

I quickly loaded one of my arrows, waiting for someone to touch it. Finally I saw one of the boys that talked me walk stupidly up to the flag. I smirked in spite of myself. This was too easy. He reached out to get the flag, his face grinning victoriously, when I shot.

I didn't even look to see that he was hit (I already knew it was going to hit him, I don't know why I just _did_)because that was when I noticed the other two Ares kids in the bushes. I cringed, they were probably waiting to see if there were any traps, and I just gave away my position. Thinking on my feet, I jumped up onto the nearest tree branch, and pulled myself up.

Now, I know that jumping onto a tree wasn't the smartest idea. If I was caught, I was pretty much trapped, and I was pretty sure that Clarisse girl could bring down a tree. But that was the thing- only _if, _I got caught.

There was a reason I was so good at tag when I was little. It was because no one could find me and tag me. I was always hiding in the trees, waiting. Alone with all the acrobats I can do on the dropout, I was a tree climbing champ.

I aimed another arrow right to where I last saw Clarisse, and I shot. I heard a satisfying _thud_ as someone fell to the ground, and I heard a girl let out a yelp, and then footsteps running away from the flag. I guess I hadn't hit Clarisse yet.

Bummer.

I put my bow down, only for a moment, thinking that Clarisse was gone back to her little Roman biddies, but she was smarter than she looked. The second I let my guard down, she jumped up and reached out to grab the flag.

"No!" I screamed, but it was too late. She grabbed the flag and started running. I quickly hopped off the tree. Too bad I forgot that I was 11 feet up.

As soon as I hit the ground I felt hot pain burst from my ankle. I had broken my ankle before (Who knew playing monopoly could be so dangerous?) but this felt different. I had sprained it. I still didn't know how I knew- I just knew. I pulled myself up against a tree.

I tried to chase after Clarisse, but when I tried to move on my foot the pain just came right back. I took a deep breath, my forehead starting to break out in sweat. After the pain had died down a bit, I tried to take another step, but as expected pain exploded and I fell to the ground, head first. I tried to pull myself up, but it was no use.

Suddenly I felt something hard fall on my head. I looked up to see a mechanical squirrel shaking its little fist at me and squeaking at me in its squirrel language. The little squirrel picked up an acorn from its hole in its tree, and then let it fall down hitting me right on my head.

"Perfect," I said to myself, "Not only do I have a sprained ankle, and I'm probably going to make us lose, but now I get to spend my time getting hit on the head with acorns my Bucky the chipmunk."

I guess the squirrel didn't like being called a chipmunk, because he started to chuck acorns a lot harder.

I laid there for a good five minutes before I heard the horn call, letting everyone know the game was over. I groaned to myself. I can't believe I let Clarisse get away. If only I hadn't let my guard down, then maybe I wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe I wouldn't be having the time of my life alongside Bucky the magical mechanical squirrel. Maybe-

"Acorn?" A voice called, interrupting my thoughts. Bucky immediately perked up, and ran towards the sound of the voice. Well, that's_ one _problem solved.

"Hello?" I called, hoping the voice hadn't left. I heard footsteps- he couldn't be far away.

"Who's there?" The voice said, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm Nicole Summers, I go to this camp!" I cried out, and I heard the footsteps start to run. It wasn't long until I saw a boy with curly black hair and upturned eye brows break through the bushes. When he saw me he gave me a smile that would have given the Hermes kids a run for their money.

"Ah! You're the new girl, right?"

"That's me. Mind helping me up?" I asked, trying to pull myself off the ground.

"Sure. I just came around to find Acorn. He's my squirrel I created," he said, and then sure enough the squirrel that had been chucking acorns at me suddenly appeared on the boys shoulder.

"…You created a mechanical squirrel that throws acorns, and then you named it Acorn?"

"Pretty much."

"Ah. Mind helping me up?" I asked again, pushing myself up onto my good leg. However, before I could even push myself up I felt pain in my ankle again and I fell to the ground with a loud _thud._

"Okay okay, I got this. Come on, get on my back," the boy said, and I climbed on, piggyback style, without hesitation. I was too tired to even be embarrassed that this was the first time I had even been on a guys back.

"I'm Leo Valdez," the boy said, and I grunted in reply.

"You know," he continued, "A lot of people are looking for you. Percy and Annabeth were ready to tear down the whole forest just to find you. The dance has been moved untill tomorrow, also."

Leo kept on talking, but I soon found myself falling asleep to his hyperactive voice.


	7. Dance Fever

When I woke up I knew something was wrong.

I wasn't in the forest anymore, I was in the infirmary. _Again. _Seriously, I've been here for two days and already I've been in the infirmary twice. That must be a new record.

I stood up in the simple white bed, grateful that I finally had a dreamless sleep for once. I have to admit that the dreams were part of the reasons I've been having trouble sleeping at night. Another reason is because of Danny and Clora. As mad as I am the two of them, I miss them. Sure, Percy and Annabeth had been great friends, but there not _real _friends. Well, not yet anyway.

I rubbed my eyes, urging myself to wake up. Someone had changed my cloths (hopefully Annabeth) so that I was dressed in a new CAMP HALF-BLOOD t-shirt and shorts, just like I had two days ago. I tried to remember why I was here, and what had happened last night. I only had pieces of that night in my brain, like how I woke up in the Poseidon cabin and how we were going to play a game… capture the flag, I think….

That was when it came back to me. The forest, walking with Keith, actually being called by someone that I looked_ cute,_ (Me, cute?) getting ambushed and then causing us to lose the game. It was all my fault, I knew it. If I just hadn't jumped from that stupid tree and twisted my ankle, then maybe I could have chased down Clarisse.

My ankle! I forgot all about it. I quickly removed the covers to see that it looked absolutely fine. I tested it by moving my ankle a little, but besides the fact that it was a bit stiff my ankle felt perfectly fine. I let out a sigh of relief, through of the sheets and got out of bed, ready to leave the big house. I was a bit dizzy when I got up, but it was nothing serious.

Slowly I made my way out of the house. It took a while, since the house had so many hallways and doors. One time I ran into a door that looked just like the exit to the big house, so I opened it. Turns out it wasn't a door to go outside, but an emergency door to China. Go figure.

After finally finding my way outside (which took about thirty minutes) I took in a deep breath of fresh air. I don't know how long I was out, but the sun was up way high in the sky, so it must have been at least ten hours. I laughed at the thought of me staying inside for ten hours straight, it never happened back at home. I woke up early and went to bed late every single day, so I never got more sleep that six hours.

I started to walk off the patio when I realized I didn't have any shoes. Would it be weird it I walked barefoot? However, just as I was going to leave, I noticed the there was a pair of word out blue flip flops right beside Dionysus's chair. They looked like someone had set them up there. Gratefully, I put the flip flops of my feet and walked towards the Athena Cabin.

I walked over there thinking of talking to Annabeth, but then I remembered Keith. I felt guilty about not thinking about him first, since he got hurt. I should have at least thought about checking up on him, but the thought had never crossed my mind.

Finally I saw the grey cabin come up in the distance. In the sunlight the carved owls seemed to glow. Silently I sneaked my way up to the door and knocked, secretly hoping that no one would be there. I didn't really know what I would say to Keith _or_ Annabeth. As much as I wanted to make sure the two of them were okay, I didn't want to actually see them. Maybe because I knew that losing was all my fault and they didn't.

Suddenly, Annabeth's blond head popped out of the cabin and she smiled at me.

"Nicole! Thank the gods your all right," she said, and I felt my heart fall down into my chest.

"Hey, Annabeth," I said half-heartedly, "is Keith around?"

"Oh, of course you'd want to talk to him. He's fine, thanks to you. It could have been a lot worst."

"All I did was untie him," I said.

"Well, he seems to think you did a lot more. And taking out those Ares kids? Priceless!" I felt myself blush.

"So is Keith here?" I asked, peeking into the cabin. Surprisingly, there were no boys at all, only the Athena girls and a couple Hermes girls.

"Oh no. All the boys are going to the Hermes cabin to get ready for the dance. All the girls are getting ready in their original cabins."

"Why?"

"Well, its sort of Greek tradition. We all go to the dance separate and then we meet up. We don't usually have dances- most demi-gods don't like dressing up."

That was an understatement. I had never even worn a dress in my entire life time and I couldn't stand to make up. One time Clora tried to put make up on me in my sleep and I just about broke her arm. Or rather… her stem? I really don't know what to call it. Anyway, I wasn't exactly trained in the way of the skirt.

"Then why is there a dance now?" I asked.

"Oh, it's in honor of the romans. They were the ones who insisted on wearing dresses- but I honestly think it was just so that they could disagree with us. They hate dresses as much as we do."

"I don't have any dresses," I said, embarrassed. Actually, I didn't have any cloths at all. All I have are the clothes on my back. I hadn't been around enough to buy some clothes from the gift shop yet. Come to think of it, I hadn't even been _awake_ long enough to buy cloths yet.

"Oh don't worry," Annabeth said, a smile on her face _way_ less than reassuring, "I have thought of everything."

'Everything' turned out to be an emergency dress up room, literally. Annabeth led me to a huge room (a room that was so big it couldn't have fit into the Athena cabin, but somehow it did) with pale pink walls and grey trimming. But it wasn't the room that amazed me- it was the girlyness.

There were about two hundred dresses, all of different colours shapes and sizes, spread out on racks all around the room. There were seven silver make up tables- so big that they took up a whole wall- filled with makeup of all brands and colours. In the one corner there was a hair styling station, complete with automatic hair-colour changer, straighteners, curlers, and a crimper. In another corner was a whole spa, along with hundreds of different nail polishes and thirty different types of face masks. In short, the room could be a couture department store.

I tried my hardest not to puke.

"We have a backup room for everything," Annabeth said, beaming with pride, "For every situation. Athena sure is smart."

"I can't disagree with that," I said, still gapping at the room, "But Annabeth, I have no idea how to-"

"Don't worry about it," she said so confidentially that I almost believed her, _almost, _"just sit back and let me do everything."

When Annabeth says she's going to help someone, she means it. I don't think I got to say a word the entire time she was dressing me up like a Barbie doll. Every time I tried to speak she would always interrupt me by accidentally pulling on my hair, or started to dab my mouth with lip stick, or it was time for _another_ facial. After a while I was beginning to think it was on purpose. Finally, with my hair in curlers and my face mask still on, she dragged me towards the dresses. For a girl who hated to dress up, she sure looked like she knew what she was doing. I guess it was another factor about being an Athena kid. Annabeth choose about twenty different dresses, all of different colours, each incredibly beautiful, and each one not my style.

Then Annabeth pulled out a beautiful blue dress the colour of the night sky. It was strapless, with a heart shaped neckline. It fell to just above my knee and flowed outwards, and a blue ribbon that wrapped around the dress and came into a bow in the back. It could have been a princess's dress, except shorter. Annabeth, noticing my reaction, stopped at the dress and started to take a better look at it.

"This is perfect," she finally said, "You have good taste."

In spite of myself, I blushed. I never really got those types of complements. The only complements I got were 'you hit like a guy' and 'you run real nice'. Oh, and the occasional, 'you smile looks better, since you got your braces off.'

Finally, Annabeth took out my curls and my face mask, started my make up, and then told me to put on the blue dress. She told me to not to look in any mirrors until she was done, and I can tell you it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, and I've battled a mythological creature.

After Annabeth finished up on my makeup, and chose some accessories (my deer necklace and a simple charm bracelet along with silver flats)

"Mirror, please," she said to the room, and almost immediately a huge mirror came falling down from the middle of the room. The Athena girls and the Hermes girls, who were also in the room, didn't even turn their heads to see the big mirror. They were too busy looking at the dresses.

Finally I saw myself in the mirror, and I'm not going to lie, I had to take a double take just to make sure it was myself. My chocolate brown hair was completely transformed, lying down free along my shoulders in waves that turned halfway into loose curls. My dress somehow made my waist line look a lot skinnier that it actually was, and it made my skin practically glow. Or maybe that was the makeup. Annabeth hadn't done much with my makeup, which I liked. She put on brown eye liner along with blue eye shadow, making my green eyes stand out. Along with a thin line of foundation, peach lip stick, and French nails, I looked like a whole new person.

A new person, but still me. That I liked.

"Annabeth, I-"

"No time to thank me," Annabeth said, interrupting me, "I need _you_ to help me now."

That was when I realized: Annabeth hadn't dressed up at all. She was still in her camp half-blood shirt along with white capris. I was about to apologize about making her wait- we only had an hour until the dance- but before I could even do anything she shoved me towards the dresses and told me to choose one. I was a bit surprised at Annabeth's commands. She made me feel like I was her dog or something. But I also knew her heart was in the right places, so I started to go through the dresses.

Once I got to the racks, I started to look through the dresses. I think I saw about ever dress known to mankind. I saw ball room dresses, really_ really_ short slim fitting dresses, and dresses that should have been meant for my grandmother. There was even a dress that was bright orange with green stars printed on it. I was so tempted to choose it for Annabeth, but something told me I wouldn't get the reaction I wanted.

Finally I found pretty metallic emerald dress. It had a halter neck line and a poofy skirt that was a little shorter than mine. Before I could decide if the dress was good or not Annabeth some over and ripped the dress out of my hands and ran into the change room. Okay, that was a bit rude.

Finally Annabeth some out of the change room, and I gasped. She looked absolutely stunning. The green dress was perfect for her, making her grey eyes light up her entire face. Her blond hair was piled up in a high pony tail, hanging down loosely down to her back. She was holding a golden clutch and a gold owl hair clip. She smiled weakly at me.

"You look amazing," I said, still admiring how she could do all that in one hour.

"You think?" she asked nervously, "I was thinking about a blue dress, you know, since Percy's favorite colour is blue…"

Annabeth called down the mirror again and started dabbing at her lip gloss. So she was just nervous, she wasn't trying to be rude. She wanted to impress Percy- and something told me she was going to succeed.

Finally, we made our way outside the cabin and towards the dining hall. I was only expecting the tables to be pushed to the sides and a play list of music, but I was beginning to understand that nothing at Camp Half-blood was going to be what I expected.

And I was completely fine with that.


	8. Impossable Becomes Possable

**Okay, I am getting a lot of 'MY GOD ARTEMIS CANNOT HAVE KIDS SHE IS A VERGIN GODDESS' blah blah blah. I am not stupid, thank you very much. I have reason. People, I am absolutely shocked of the lack of trust you have in me. Just wait it out, all shall be explained… but at the very end. And only at the end. WAIT. **

**-Sincerely, your very offended author**

Let's recap, shall we?

So, I almost got killed by the Minotaur, lost both my best friends, got put in a room with a bunch of thieves, got my assigned square, ended up sleeping in the Poseidon's cabin along with a complete stranger after having a nice meeting with some harpies, lost capture the flag for everyone and got beat up my a squirrel.

As you can see, I needed a break. However, that was something I was not going to get.

I walked down to the dining hall with Annabeth. I noticed the guys had gotten there before us, and all the girls- with exception of the Ares kids, who were dressed up in jeans and t-shirts that said DRESSES ARE FOR PUNKS, were giggling at the sight of them. However, it wasn't the guys that amazed me as much as the dance floor.

It was a dressed up in gold and purple tent, in honor of the romans, which they seemed to like. The roman girls had stopped scowling for a moment, and I could have sworn I saw one smile. There was a satyr DJ who was spinning songs on records, however the songs were really new. I saw an Aphrodite kid whispering in the DJ's ear and suddenly Demi Lovato 'Me, Myself, and Time' came on.

As I walked in the tent I felt my gapping grow stronger. There seemed to be nothing holding up the silk walls, as if by magic (which really didn't surprise me) and the roof was open to the night sky. The floor was changing with the song, and since Demi Lavato came on the floor changed into piano keys. There were candles hovering around everywhere, glowing a beautiful gold light. And I mean literally _gold. _I have no idea how it was flickering like a real candle, but when I touched the candle it felt of solid gold. And then there was the food- there was almost everything I liked- my favorite warm brownies, cream soda, and some cute little sun shaped crackers. There was also garlic shrimp, some weird mixture of hot sauce and ketchup, and blue coke. In the light of the moon, the place looked like a teenager's wonderland.

Then I saw the boys. They were all dressed up in one way or another, most of the wearing dress pants and shirts. I didn't even know boys _owned_ dress shirts. I saw Percy first, dressed in a grey top and black dress pants. When Annabeth saw him, she grabbed my wrist really tight, digging her perfectly manicured nails into my arms. In spite of the pain, I smiled at her. I wouldn't think that Annabeth could get so hung up about a guy.

Then I saw Keith. He looked a lot better than he had the last time I saw him- then again he was on the wet dirt unconscious the last time- but he didn't look that good.

Okay, I was lying. He looked absolutely amazing.

He was dressed in a deep purple long sleeved shirt and black pants along with a little golden ring on his finger. Usually when I see a guy wearing jewelry I get a little freaked out- but somehow he made the ring look… I don't know… manly. His usually short straight hair was now flopped over to one side.

Remembering I wanted to talk to him, I slipped out of Annabeth's grasp and pushed my way over to him. I felt guilty for leaving her there alone, however when I looked back Annabeth hadn't even noticed I was missing, she was still staring at Percy. Grinning, I turned back to meet Keith, who had just started to drink some of his punch.

"Hey Keith," I said, and then he turned to me.

Okay, saying his reaction was weird was an understatement. When he saw me his mouth dropped and he let the juice in his mouth fall out and falling on the floor. Keith blushed.

"My god, Nicole, you- you scared me!" he said, and I laughed.

"Well next time I'll warn you before I talk to you."

"No- it's not that," he said, blushing still, "It's just I wasn't expecting you to look... so…"

"So…?" I said, teasing him.

"So beautiful," he said, and then it was my turn to blush. We talked for a minute, before Demi Lavato changed to Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade. We stood there awkwardly for moment, the two of us beat red, untill Keith held out his hand.

"Care to dance?" he said quietly, and over the music I shouldn't have heard a thing- but I did here him. And before I even knew it I was nodding my head and he was pulling me out to the dance floor.

Since when did I become such a girl? I had only been a few days since I was wearing my jeans and long sleeved shirts and scraping my knees climbing trees. Now I was here, wearing a dress, about to dance with an extremely cute boy, and my heart beating so fast someone I barely knew.

I put my arms around his neck and he put his hands gently around my waist. Okay, I think I had danced with only one guy before, and that was at my grade eight dance with Danny, and it wasn't exactly 'romantic'. The entire dance he wouldn't look me in the eye and kept me as far away from him as he could. Keith, on the other hand, kept pulling me in closer and closer. Eventually I was so close I was looking over his shoulder.

That was when I saw Danny. He was talking to Jake, one of his half-brothers. He looked great, wearing a short sleeved white top and black dress pants, his hair as messy as ever. Jake had said something and made him laugh, and I felt my heart twist. As mad as I was at him, I missed him. He's always been there for me. Ever since we had first met.

Without noticing it, I had stopped dancing. Keith looked down at me, confused, but then he followed my eyes to Danny. I thought he was going to be mad at me for stopping, but he just smiled weakly.

"Go talk to him," he whispered in my ear. I wanted to say no- tell him that I wasn't going to let Danny stop this perfect moment, but I didn't. Instead I slipped out of his arms and made my way towards Danny and Jake. I looked back at him halfway, expecting him to have left, but he was still there, nodding at me to go on. I gave him one last grateful smile, and then continued towards Danny.

Danny was facing away from me, talking to Jake, so Jake saw me first. When he saw me he smiled wildly, which of course made him look like a mastermind criminal.

"Hey Nicole, you look awesome," he said, and I saw Danny tense up at the mention of my name.

"Thanks Jake, your sweet. Mind if I talk to Danny?" I asked. He shifted his eyes between the both of us for a moment, probably wondering who would be madder- Danny if he said yes or me if he said no.

"Yeah," he said finally, "Sure."

He walked away awkwardly, leaving me and Danny alone. For a while neither of us said anything, only listening to the music. Then he turned around to face me, and I felt all of my emotions running through me. Anger, relief, disbelief, and longing. But mostly anger.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" I said quietly, waiting him to run away or carefully avoid answering.

"It wasn't my place to tell you anything," he said, and I laughed hollowly.

"Of course. Just because you were watching me and pretending to be my friend for ten years-"

"I didn't pretend."

"-You didn't have a right to tell me anything!" I said, ignoring his interruption.

"Look I got to go," he said, staring to walk away. I felt angry tears wend up into my eyes.

"Going to run again?" I whispered. He was way too far away to hear me, but he must of, because he stopped in his tracks. I waited for him to keep moving, but instead he turned around and came right back towards me. His laughing face he had with Jake was now completely gone.

"I don't run away."

"Really?" I said, "So, when you ditched school you weren't running? When you were avoiding me? When your girlfriends were-"

"My girlfriends don't have anything to do with this!" He said exasperated, but I wouldn't stop.

"You didn't care about them at all! Why did you even date them?"

"Because I wanted to make-" he started, but then he caught himself, like he was going to say something that I shouldn't know.

"Because?" I said, my arms crossed. Danny looked over at me, as if studying me with new eyes. For a moment, I thought I saw hurt flash in his eyes, but it left as quickly as it was there.

"You look nice," he said finally, and then drifted away, allowing himself to be swallowed by the crowd.

I quickly whipped a tear from my cheek. I couldn't stand being here anymore. I couldn't stand seeing everyone dancing and having fun whereas I was standing in a corner, all alone. I had to get out of here. Trying my best to push through the crowd, I looked for an exit, however, everywhere I looked I came up empty. Soon I found myself in the center of the crowd, the beat pumping through my ears. I tried to move, but every time I tried I would get an elbow to the stomach or get a heeled shoe to my toe. I was trapped.

I just wanted to teleport back to my flower shop. It was the one place I felt absolutely safe. I could feel my breath quicken. I suddenly felt dizzy, as if I was about to fall over. I just wanted everyone and everything to get away from me.

And then suddenly, they were. People were moving away from me, finally giving me room to breathe. My dizziness evaporated. I suddenly felt more alive than I had all my life, as if I was walking on clouds. I let out a huge sigh of relief, letting all my problems wash away from me. There was light everywhere, but not normal light- it was as if this light was liquid silver. I looked around, trying to see where the light was coming from, but it didn't seem to be coming from around me, but _on _me.

I raised my arm and sure enough it was glowing. My whole body was. And I wasn't wearing my dress any more- I was dresses in traditional Greek robes like the gods wear. My hair was braided again, but it was longer, as if my hair had grown two inches in five seconds. I looked around to see that everyone was staring at me with wide eyes. That was when Annabeth came over.

She stared at me with those same wide eyes as everybody else.

"All hail Nicole Summers," she said, "Daughter of Artemis."


	9. My Life in Greek Ruins

**Okay, maybe I should explain about Nicole's claiming. **

**I know that it was a lot like Aphrodite's, but it actually wasn't. I guess I should have described it better. So I will! Joyful readings!**

**Your sorry author. **

"Nicole, you don't understand how amazing your claiming was," Annabeth said for the thousandth time that day.

I had just spent my first and last night in the Hermes cabin, and let me tell you, it was _not _a good night. It took me hours to fall asleep, and every time I finally did my nightmares would wake me up.

Annabeth had been telling me all about my claiming. Whereas I thought that I just changed clothes and my hair grew, it turned out that I was transformed into a human version of Artemis. My skin went pail white, my auburn hair turned lush and perfect, and my eyes changed to become the colour of the moon. Even now I still looked like that, and my skin was still glowing faintly. Annabeth also said that a sign of a bow and arrow flashed on my head. Thank the gods _that_ wasn't still there.

"We must have been the only people in the history of the world to witness an Artemis claiming!" Annabeth went on, obviously not noticing my discomfort.

It wasn't like I was mad that Artemis claimed me. To be honest it was a relief, now I didn't have to bunk in the Hermes cabin anymore. I just wish that she had given me more of an explanation. Instead I got a makeover by force and exile. What a great mother.

Well, camper exile, anyway. Everywhere I go people give me weird looks and start whispering to their friends. Percy tried to tell me to not worry about it, but honestly, how could I not? Even Annabeth can't stop talking about my mother the co called 'virgin' goddess. It's like she's totally forgot than I'm a person. Now I'm not just Nicole- I'm 'the daughter of Artemis'.

At least Annabeth treats this as a good thing. Everyone else thinks that me being alive is a mockery to the gods. The only friends I had now were Percy and Annabeth, and maybe Clora. I hadn't seen her since the Minotaur incident. And then there was Danny. The huge fight we had last night made me absolutely miserable. Maybe I should explain about Danny and his habit of 'running away'.

Danny wasn't exactly that perfect child that every parent wants. He skipped school as many days as he could and got in trouble daily. He told me not to worry about him, but of course I did. The reason he didn't skip school as much as he wanted to was only because of me and his mom, Linda.

If you have ever met Danny's mom, you would describe her as story book perfect. She had blond hair, like Danny's, warm brown eyes, and looked like she could be from a Mothers Weekly magazine. Every time I went over to his house there would always be a fresh plate of cookies to welcome Danny home. He never took any, but I always did. The smile on her face after I ate one was enough for me to take ten more. Although Danny never really appreciated his mother, and I never knew why.

One day, when Danny and I were about ten, I had come over to give Danny our homework that he missed, and I overheard him talking to mom. It made no sense back then, but now I understood perfectly.

"Daniel, sweetheart, don't talk about your father that way," Linda said, her voice filled with pain.

"Why not?" Danny asked angrily, "He doesn't care about us! You would think after all this time-"

"He's busy, honey-"

"Too busy for family? He's a god, he can do whatever he wants!"

"It's not that simple-"

"Why do you take this, mom? I know you still love him."

I had never heard Danny talk about his dad. I never knew what had happened to him either, because whenever I tried to ask he would change the subject.

"I will always love your dad, Daniel, because he gave me you!" Linda said, exasperated. But Daniel wasn't having it.

"I _hate_ him!" he screamed, and then I heard a door slam. There was silence for a moment, but then I heard small sniffling noises, like someone was crying. It was Linda. I knew I couldn't deliver the homework now, so I ran back home.

Then there were Danny's girlfriends. They were are incredibly pretty and incredibly popular, but they never lasted. I think the longest he had one was for a month, max, and that was his first one. He never told me why he wanted to date them or why he would break up with them, either. It was like he didn't care for any of them.

He ran away from school, his girlfriends, and even his own mom. He seems to have a habit of hurting everyone close to him. I used to be that one he never hurt- that piece in his life that was always going to be there. Now I wasn't sure.

And the thought made me miserable.

"-and I wonder what powers you will have!" Annabeth said, still going on about my mother.

"Annabeth!" I snapped, very annoyed, "I'm tired. I think I'll go check out my cabin, kay?"

She looked at me shocked and a little hurt, and I immediately felt bad for saying that. But I just needed some time alone.

"Okay," she said, and I made my way to cabin eight.

Cabin eight was beautiful and simple on the outside. It was glowing, not unlike myself, but not with a light- it was radiating power. It was pure white, and had all of the phases of the moon carved into its sides. There were two of each moon, one for each wall, however there was only one moon on the front door, where all of the moons connected to. You could see little gems- like stars- glowing inside the walls, almost showing me the constellations. The closer I got the more I could see. The only way you could see the true beauty of this cabin was if you were standing right in front of it.

I stood there nervously. I couldn't help it- this cabin was supposed to be my 'home'. But how could it be? Everyone else seems to have family, seems to have a place they belong with other people. But I just felt like I was drifting through this whole camp. I didn't have a place where I knew I could just be myself. I feel like I have an invisible force field around me- stopping anyone from getting too close. I've only broke that force field for two people- my Dad and Danny.

Timidly, I pushed on the door to Cabin eight. It was lighter than I expected and it pushed open easily, welcoming me in. I gulped, and then walked throughout the cabin.

It was like nothing I've ever seen. Compared to Hermes cabin, Poseidon cabin, even Athena's cabin- Artemis's cabin was the greatest by far. When I first walked in it was completely dark- which I would expect, seeing as no one has used this cabin in, well, forever- but it wasn't completely dark. Like the outside, there were little gems in the celling acting as stars. I tried to find a light anywhere- but I soon found out I didn't need one. I could see absolutely perfect in the dark.

With the help of my night vision eyes I made my way into the first room, finally finding the light switch. The first impression I got was that this cabin was made for princesses. The ceiling was painted beautifully with the life of Artemis, but it wasn't just painted, it was moving. First I saw Artemis being born, and then I saw her turning a man into a deer, and then I saw her leading a group of twelve year old girls to kill some sort of monster. Then I saw the beds. They were simple and didn't look like much, but when I sat on one I felt like I was floating on a cloud. The floors were tilled with Greek letters, spelling out a huge Greek Alphabet in the center of the room. That I didn't understand. Everything in the room seemed to have something to do with Artemis, however the floor made no sense. But it didn't really bother me.

I took a good look around my room and thought about how something as beautiful as this could be mine. I was never even around to _touch_ something as perfect as this back at the shop. One time I tried to change a corsage that Laurie had made and she just slapped me right across the face. I know it might sound harsh, but that was really the only time she's ever hit me. My dad was getting groceries at the time and I couldn't bring myself to tell him.

I stood up and twirled around, laughing. If only Laurie could see this! But a part of me was cautious. How could I get this room for free? Something has to go wrong, it always does. I shouldn't enjoy this so much.

So what do I do? I squeal and start to jump on one of the beds.

Hey, you can't blame me. When you live the life I lived- well, you don't exactly have the 'American Dream'. I jumped higher and higher on my bed, letting my hair come out of its braid and fly around me. All I needed to make this moment perfect was some music. And then…. There was music. I don't know how, there just was. I stopped jumping, wondering what was happening. Suddenly, an idea came to me. A grin creeping on my face, I thought of the music stopping. And then it did. Then I thought of 'Dog Days' by Florence and the Machine, and suddenly the song was blasting through my new room.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I imagined some Sunny-D in front of me, and I opened my eyes to find a cool glass of water in from of me. Something told me my mother wasn't into me drinking sugary drinks.

I laughed to myself and then went back to jumping on the beds. It really did feel like I was jumping on clouds. I started screaming the lyrics to Dog Days, thinking about how perfect this moment was. Yes I, Nicole Summers, was actually having a perfect moment. Miracles _do_ happen.

"Hey- Nicole?" I startled voice asked, and I stopped jumping.

"Keith!" I said, my roots turning red. Keith looked embarrassed as well, which just about made me want to jump off a cliff. Of _course_ he had to come in at this moment.

"Oh, um- I was just wondering if you want to go for a walk or something…" he trailed off, scratching the back of his head. I felt my cheeks get hotter.

"Oh, um- sure," I said, quickly looking at how bad I looked. Surprisingly, I looked pretty good, if you leave out my frizzy hair and baggy eyes. Hey- I didn't exactly have all the time in the world to get ready this morning. I was practically kicked out of the Hermes cabin. Well, they _do _need all the space they can get…

"Okay, let's go," Keith said, and I quickly walked out the door with him, not realizing that I wouldn't come back to my new cabin for a long time.


	10. A New Change

**Sorry for the wait guys, I was kind of all over the place this last month. Anyway, I have recently gotten a wonderful review challenging my logic AGAIN. Please, **_**I know what I am doing**_**. However, if you are worried about something or if something doesn't feel right with you, please tell me. I take your advice very seriously.**

**-Sincerely, your author**

My walk with Keith would have been nice if I wasn't the awkward person I was. We talked about a bunch of random stuff, but I wasn't really comfortable talking to him. Well, talking to anyone lately, really. I just had so much going on right now with Clora, Danny, and my Dad. Everything from my old life is now gone. I don't know why, but it feels like every second I stay at Camp Half-Blood I'm losing a part of myself. Keith seemed to notice that I wasn't listening to him talk anymore, so he stopped walking.

"Nicole…" he sighed, "I'm sorry."

I stared at him, confused, "What do you mean? I don't see any reason why you should say sorry-"

"No. I was useless in capture the flag, and I couldn't even say thank you for looking after me while I was unconscious, and then I haven't been talking to you because of… well…"

He let the sentence hang, and then it was my turn to sigh. We stood there awkwardly for a moment, listening to the dryads giggling by the trees. I nervously twirled my hair.

"Keith… thank you," I said, "I need someone to be honest with me right now. _I _need to be honest with me. I'm tired of trying to be someone I'm not."

"What do you mean?"

I hesitated. "It doesn't matter," I said finally, and he nodded.

"I see."

"Actually," I said, "I have to see Chiron. I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," he said dully, "See you later."

I felt bad for leaving him, but I couldn't stay here any longer. I felt like no one was listening to me and everyone was judging me, like I was an experiment gone horribly wrong. I wanted to break down and stay strong at the same time. I wanted to show everyone that they weren't getting to me. I suddenly felt myself break into a run, heading towards the Big House.

I walked up to the stairs, but then I hesitated. If I was actually going to ask him what I wanted to ask him all week… well, if I was going to ask him in general I would have to be insane, but if he actually said yes then I knew my life would change, and I might never see Camp Half-Blood again.

Wow, I thought being a teenager was hard, but being a teenage Half-Blood? _Not_ a good combination.

Finally I got enough courage to open the door, and I was surprised to see that Chiron was not alone. A very pretty red haired girl was talking to him in a hushed voice, and Chiron seemed to be soaking up every word she said.

"Excuse me?" I said quietly, and the girl gave loud squeal and jumped.

"Oh my gods," she said, clutching her heart, "You scared me!"

Now that I got a better look at her, I noticed that she was dressed… really weird. Well, she was dressed in a plain white t-shirt with paint all over her jean shorts, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that she was wearing a dark red robe that made her look like one of those masked murderers you see on crime shows. Let me tell you, her artsy shorts did _not_ go with her I'm-ready-to-kill cloak.

"Oh, sorry," I said stupidly, still staring at the girl. We stood there in silence for a moment, but then Chiron cleared his throat and I was brought back to reality.

"Miss Summers," He said, "Please take a seat."

He motioned to the couch in front of him, and I slowly walked over and sat down. The other girl sat down right beside me, making herself comfortable.

"I'm Rachel, the oracle, I live in the cave over the hill," she said, grinning at me. I looked over to Chiron, expecting him to laugh and say 'Yeah, funny joke,' but no luck. I mean, I can believe in mythological creatures and gods, but oracles?

Then again, this is camp half blood.

"I'm Nicole, the social outcast," I said, laughing, but my laugh was hollow. Chiron cleared his throat again, and I turned my attention to him.

"You want to ask me something?" Chiron said.

"Yeah," I said, getting back on track, "I want to ask you if I could leave camp."

There was a long silence that filled the room. Rachel looked between the two of us, confused, but Chiron didn't bother to explain anything to her. Instead, he just let out a long sigh.

"Nicole, if this is about the campers-

"No," I said quickly, "It's not about that. It's more like… I mission."

"Are you asking for a quest?" Rachel asked, "A quest is kind of like a mission."

"Well, I guess I could consider…" Chiron said, running his hands in his hair, "But what will you do on this quest?"

I was about to make up some excuse about having to fight something evil, like laundry or something, when suddenly Rachel's eyes started to glow bright green. She stood up, green smoke coming from her mouth and turned her glowing eyes right towards me.

"_Ask me, child,"_ a voice far from Rachel's said, giving me a chill up my back. I swallowed, not able to break away from her glowing eyes. I was scared out of my mind, but somehow I managed to answer.

"I want to find my father," I said, and suddenly Rachel's faze got a lot creepier.

Rachel started to float of the ground, the green smoke clouding up all of the room. The temperatures seemed to drop ten degrees every second. I looked over at Chiron, panic plastered over my face, but he too looked confused. Then Rachel began to speak.

"_Five will go to the land of living dead_

_To make sure the forgotten one meets his end,_

_Help is needed for the one with the gift,_

_One child of the dead, and one of the lightning quick._

_Another child will be from the sea,_

_But the fifth and final shall come later in the journey_

_To make sure no one will be lost in this quest,_

_Only look after the gift and forget the rest,_

_For this deed must be done_

_Before September the one._"

For a moment the possessed Rachel just stood there, frozen in the air, but then she suddenly dropped to the ground with a loud thud. What did that mean? And why was the gift, whatever it was, being brought up everywhere? And what did it mean to only look after the gift and forget the rest? What was there to forget, my father? And who is the forgotten?

"Miss Summers," Chiron said in a grave voice, "I'm afraid that you must leave at once. I will get Percy, he must go on this quest as well, and Nico must too, since Hazel is more a child of cursed gems… Lightning quick must mean Hermes-"

"Danny," I said, under my breath, but Chiron wasn't listening to me, he was lost in his own thought.

"You have got your wish, child," Chiron said, looking at me with sad eyes, "You shall depart in one hour. I suggest you explain this to Annabeth, there might be a few things that she needs to know."

I nodded, quickly running away from the big house without another word. Somehow I knew what was going to happen. I was going to leave with Percy, some kid named Nico, and… well, Danny. I would travel to the land of living dead… where ever that is, and I would have to destroy the forgotten man. Okay, so basically I'm going on a death quest with a stranger, a somewhat friend, and I still have the Danny situation, and somehow we all have to come together and destroy a forgotten person. Okay, that doesn't sound crazy.

Finally I saw the Athena cabin in the distance, and I started to sprint. I didn't know how I was going to explain this to Annabeth. _Hey, Annabeth, I know that Percy just came back and everything, but I kind of have to leave with him on a quest that could most likely kill him. But no biggie, right?_

Please. If this quest doesn't kill me, Annabeth will.

I made my way to the steps of the Athena cabin, and then I banged on the door. Thankfully it was Annabeth who answered and not Keith or some other Athena kid. She looked like she was ready for a night in; dressed in sweat pants and her hair was tied up into a lazy pony tail. I looked into her room to see that her laptop was out and she was working on some weird backscratcher/ deadly weapon.

"Nicole," Annabeth said in surprise, "What's wrong?"

I did my best at telling her what had happened; how Rachel went all possessed and how I was now going on a quest and how some kid names Nico and Percy were coming along with someone from the Hermes cabin. She looked surprised that Percy was coming, but she let me continue. I told her about the weird rhyme which Annabeth told me was a prophecy, and how I had to fight a forgotten ruler in the land of the living dead. I even told her about the gift.

"Oh, well the gift is easy," Annabeth said after I had finished, "It was a key. Not many people know about it, it was actually a huge secret. Only half bloods now know about it. Zeus had given Artemis the gift as a present on the day of her birth. It was supposed to be the key to a great power, however it had a terrible curse on it. The key was… well, a gift. And gifts must be given. So, ever one hundred years the gift has to be given to a new person. At first is traveled between all of the gods, then the huntresses… but then the gift was lost."

"Wow," I said, engulfed in her story, "What did the gift look like?"

"It was a… oh what was it…" Annabeth whispered to herself, playing with her hair, "Oh yeah, it was a necklace. Funny, huh? I could be anywhere in the world. I wonder how the gift fits in your quest…"

But I wasn't listening anymore. I felt my heart stop and my hands slowly went up to my neck. There, hanging, was my silver doe necklace. It wasn't possible… she couldn't have…

But a voice in the back of my head was saying yes. She definitely could have.


End file.
